Egypt Shuts Down Al Jazeera

Egypt has shut down Al Jazeera after it interviewed Muslim radical preaching incitement against the Mubarak regime. The US has not yet commented.

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Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 30/01/11 11:08 | updated: 11:16

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Israel news photo: Al Jazeera

Egypt has shut down the offices of Al Jazeera after the pan-Arab satellite network interviewed Muslim radicals preaching incitement against the Mubarak regime. The United States has not yet commented.

One Al Jazeera correspondent wrote on his Twitter account, "Don’t worry we’ll still report what’s happening in Egypt no matter what new restrictions they put on us." Al Jazeera's 24-hour news network has been reporting almost exclusively on the uprising in Egypt.

Video: Latets English update from Al Jazeera

Less than 24 hours before the dramatic announcement by authorities in Cairo, U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Mubarak to guarantee freedoms for Egyptians.

Opposition rallies entered their sixth day on Sunday, and relative quiet has been reported following the killing of more than 100 people, many of them gunned down or clubbed to death by riot police and prisoners who were released to help suppress the rallies.

President Obama and Secretary Clinton’s call to Egypt was made after the regime shut down mobile phone networks and Internet service in order to make it more difficult for opposition leaders to organize rallies. Partial cellular phone service has been restored.

“I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters," President Obama said Saturday night. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights.”